​About how long it will take us to colonize other planets ● Birds can be poisonous too ● The US has already returned more than 10,000 pre-Columbian artifacts to Mexico

About as much as we would need to colonize other planets

Many people confuse the idea of ​​sending a crew to a distant planet or some satellite and colonization. It’s like saying, that’s it, we created the International Space Station and colonized space. That’s not how it works.

When it comes to colonizing outer space, you need at least a permanently populated base, at least an initial economy to make said colony viable, but also a large enough population if there are no plans to return to Earth.

We are currently at a stage where China and Russia have resumed the space race to establish the first bases on the Moon and Mars. We look at Elon Musk’s promises to send a million people to the Red Planet by 2050. We seem to have seen how things are going with this businessman.

We are still at a stage where we only dream of colonizing planets outside our solar system. With our technology, it would take us thousands, maybe tens or hundreds of thousands of years to get to a planet that could host life. Oh, and we have to find her first. In this case, Mars remains the most viable destination, even if it is not the friendliest planet in the universe.

And even if efforts were focused on that goal, since the Chinese say they want to send the first crew there in 2033, we still won’t have a Martian colony anytime soon. It will take many decades to see this come to fruition.

As for the colonization of planets in other solar systems, we also have good news. Theoretically, every century humans discover technologies that increase the speed of travel by about ten times. But we are not far, because a century ago, the world still rode horses. So if we extrapolate this exercise of imagination, it would take us about 500 years to build a spacecraft capable of transporting a crew of about 500 people to a distant planet.

A crew that will have to train pilots and specialists every generation because like I said it will take thousands of years to get where it needs to be. Until then, there is one more problem. Let’s manage to survive on the planet we already have.

And birds can be poisonous

Here we do not mean the ones you buy in the market for consumption. You already know about them that in many cases they are injected and fed with all nonsense. Today we are talking about birds that have developed the ability to accumulate neurotoxins in their feathers and skin so that predators think twice before attacking them.

A study recently published in the journal Molecular Ecology describes two such bird species recently discovered in New Guinea. Scientific name Pachycephala schlegelii and Leadryas rufinucha are two species that share the same neurotoxin, also present in some species of Central and South American frogs, batrachotoxin.

This neurotoxin is so toxic that it can cause severe convulsions and a heart attack almost immediately after contact with it. The researchers who made the discovery, for example, were lucky. They felt irritation of the eyes and nose, just picking feathers from the nest. This led to their careful research.

According to the received data, the birds of the mentioned species receive the neurotoxin from the environment. Specifically, they consume food sources that already contain it. It is clear that they do not produce, but the source remains a mystery to be solved.

In this case, the researchers say, it’s a known but very rare evolutionary trait in birds where an animal develops the ability to consume poisonous food while becoming poisonous itself. Moreover, he undergoes genetic mutations that allow him to resist the effects of poisons.

Experts say the problem with researching these two bird species, and possibly others, is that the New Guinea jungle is not the friendliest place in the world. Not until inter-tribal conflicts became the order of the day and until cannibalism disappeared only on paper. In this case, let’s face it, those birds can wait, because it doesn’t really burn.

The United States has already returned more than 10,000 pre-Columbian artifacts to Mexico.

The fact that Central America has been pillaged since colonial times is no great revelation. This happened everywhere where some peoples were conquered by others. And one of the favorite targets of criminals were heirlooms. In particular, archaeological remains.

As a result, millions of artifacts ended up in private collections or through Western museums without their owners bothering to find out where they really came from. And if they knew, they kept quiet. In fact, some countries still refuse to give back what they once stole from others.

In this case, the US authorities, while not being able to build the wall dreamed of by Donald Trump on the border with Mexico, realized that one more problem had to be solved. It is a Mexican heritage located in the United States.

Thus, thanks to the partnership between the two countries, more than 10,000 pre-Columbian artifacts have already been returned to Mexico. Among them, the most recent case is an impressive statue with a height of 1.8 m, a width of 1.5 m and a weight of about half a ton.

The statue, called the “Monster of the Earth”, represents a creature with a wide open mouth, which is often present in pre-Columbian engravings, especially those of the Olmec. In addition, it is believed that the statue was created about 2400-2800 years ago even by Olmec craftsmen.

It is not known when and how she was kidnapped and transported to the United States. It’s not actually a pocket figure. It is only known that his research was conducted only in 1968. It is not even reported where it was found. Except that he was found and already sent to Mexico. It’s still good like that. Good thing he made it home!

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